Seven fifteen. Seven ... fucking ... fifteen. On a Friday. A Friday, like every other, where I find myself here in the virtually abandoned office, sat before the screaming banality of a computer screen. Stacks of work get done sure. But all this extra work had no chance of being noticed let alone appreciated so why the hell was I still here? Why hadn't I left hours earlier along with every sane person? The answer, quite simply, was that there wasn't much to leave for. Nothing waiting for me at home other than some bad wine, a poorly chosen takeaway, a half watched movie and a stiff neck from falling asleep on an expensive-enough-to-be-more-damn-comfortable sofa. So, for now, this was it. My life. Awesome.
People had been gradually leaving over the last few hours. Each one throwing me a polite smile laced with just enough pity to really make it count. The emptier the office grew, the darker and colder it became and by now the air conditioning was compensating for a far fuller office. Goosebumps began forming all over the surface of my skin and I was almost shivering. That's why the sudden warmth hit me so unexpectedly. A warmth that began focused on a single spot on my neck and radiated a heat that spread slowly over my entire body. The warmth from a single breath.
The simmering frustration that had been building over the last few hours had such a hold on me that I hadn't noticed the chair wheel up next to mine. That breath was the first clue I wasn't alone and it's effect had me rooted. Immobile. My eyes closed, the hairs and my neck and arms stood on end and every muscle tensed. I couldn't even muster the effort to turn to see who had done this to me. But I didn't need to turn to see who it was. I knew who and I knew why. I'd known something had been coming since it happened and it happened almost exactly one week ago today.
It was another Friday. Another frustrating Friday and I was on my way to the ground floor to fetch something dull for something so far beyond tedious it wasn't even funny. Still, it was necessary and the break away from my desk was welcome. Being around 5 the lift was far too full. Everyone, except me, in their coats, umbrellas at the ready, desperate for escape. We were so packed in that his closeness didn't seem out of order at first. The invasion of my personal space was to be expected, so I tolerated it through clenched teeth. But then I felt him shift. Very slowly. Very deliberately against me. The first time I chose to ignore it, willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that it was somehow accidental. Then he did it again. His hips pressing himself into me gently and holding there for far too long before moving away again. That was taking advantage and I felt incensed at this unsubtle effort to gain some cheap thrill from me. I was about to admonish him, scald him for being such a pervert when I caught myself. I knew what everyone would think if I did. It was a crowded lift. Accidentally brushing against each other was a natural consequence. All this he would point out. And since everyone thought, or at least I suspected they thought, I was a little nuts to begin with, they would all side with him. So I decided to just bear it quietly. That I should just be a good girl and do what was expected. Same as I always do.